I went to see the only flying B-29 Superfortress this weekend. It's the "Fifi", owned and operated by the Commemorative Air Force. Here's a couple of pics and a short history of Lunken field:

Lunken Airport, was a commercial airport in the 1920s '30s and '40s. It is situated in the Little Miami River valley near Columbia, the site of the first Cincinnati-area settlement in 1788. When the original 1000-acre (4 kmē) airfield was dedicated in 1925, it was the largest municipal airfield in the world.

American Airlines started at Lunken Airport during this time.

The control tower, the oldest standing control tower in the United States, was almost totally submerged during the historic Ohio River flood of 1937, and now has a single black brick facing the airfield to indicate the high-water mark (about 30 feet deep).

Here a shot of the tower in the flood. I did not get over to the tower to find the black brick. http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/airport4.jpg

I've got a couple movies of starting the engines, taxiing and takeoff, but they're huge files (+30 mb!), so I'm trying to figure out how to reduce them in size.

Tommy

Richard Flagg

13-06-2011, 17:56

Nice photos Tommy, its great to see 'Fifi' flying again too.

I really like that tower too, its a nice looking building.

Peter Kirk

13-06-2011, 20:02

Sounds like you had a great time there Tommy.

I have a few engines on video (a few years old now) but it never quite catches the rumble. Must try the old home theatre with the big sub woofer!
The clatter of the radials is quite different from an inline.

Indeed it is the Black Brick! I had thought it was on the other side of the building, but after further research, that is it! Good eye. BTW, after the disastrous 1937 flood, they built a new airport (now: CVG) about 400 feet above the river!

And yes, it is Art Deco style. The inside of the old lobby was a real treat, but too dark for my old camera. There is an Aeronica aircraft suspended from the ceiling. Aeronica used to have a factory at Lunken in the 1930s.